Li Yuan felt an undeniable calling.
Following the transformation of his Water Understanding to the Wenjing realm, something within him trembled with a profound need—a need to fully absorb what he had just experienced and to prepare for the possibility of the next transformation.
It was time for deep cultivation.
Li Yuan looked down through the boundless darkness of the water. He had traveled ten thousand kilometers to reach this depth, but he felt that he needed to go even deeper. Not just physically, but spiritually.
His consciousness body began to descend, penetrating layers of water that grew increasingly dense with an increasingly crushing pressure. But the pressure no longer felt destructive. With his Water Understanding in the Wenjing realm, Li Yuan felt the pressure as an ever-tightening embrace from the element that had become his friend.
"Where are you going?" the surrounding water asked in the silent language that was now familiar.
"Seeking a place to be still," Li Yuan replied in the same language. "A place where there are no disturbances, no distractions. Only pure depth."
"Ah," the water whispered in a tone full of understanding. "You seek the heart of silence. A place where even we do not move much. A place where time moves so slowly it almost stops."
"Yes. That is where I need to be."
Li Yuan continued to descend. Fifteen thousand kilometers. Twenty thousand. Twenty-five thousand. At this depth, even the water moved in a different pattern—slower, deeper, like the breath of a giant sleeping creature.
At a depth of thirty thousand kilometers, Li Yuan felt something different. The water here no longer told stories of the world's surface. The water here told stories of the earth's core, of a pressure so great that time itself changed its nature.
"Here," Li Yuan whispered. "This is the place."
He positioned himself in a meditative stance—cross-legged with a straight back, hands gently placed on his knees. His consciousness body was stable in a pressure that could crush a mountain, supported by his Body and Existence Understandings that had matured over thousands of years.
Then he began to close himself off from the outside world.
It was not a harsh closing, like a door slamming shut. It was a gentle closing, like a flower closing its petals as night falls. One by one, Li Yuan withdrew his consciousness from his surroundings.
First, he drew his attention away from the conversation with the water around him. The voices that had become his friends over the last few days slowly faded, not because he didn't want to listen, but because he needed to focus inward.
Then he withdrew his consciousness from the consciousness body itself. The sensation of the water pressure, the feeling of floating, even the awareness of his body's position—all were slowly released until he no longer felt he had a physical form.
All that remained was a pure consciousness floating in a meaningful void.
In that state, Li Yuan began to observe his seventeen understandings with a clear inner eye.
Water. His first understanding vibrated with a new light in the Wenjing realm. Li Yuan could feel the depth he had just reached—the ability to hear, communicate, and become a part of the universal water network. But he also felt that there was still room for deeper growth. The realm after Wenjing. What would come after the ability to listen?
Silence. His second understanding vibrated with a profound stability. Still in the Ganjing realm, but Li Yuan felt the potential for transformation. The silence he had previously felt as the absence of sound began to whisper about a deeper meaning—about the space between words, about the pause between breaths, about the moments that give meaning to life.
Existence. The understanding that allowed him to exist in this consciousness body form vibrated with a question: "What does it mean to truly exist? Is existence only about occupying space, or is there something more fundamental?"
Doubt. The understanding that taught him to always be open to new possibilities vibrated with curiosity: "Is doubt only about ignorance, or is doubt a window to a greater mystery?"
One by one, Li Yuan observed each of his understandings with unhurried attention. He did not try to force growth but allowed each understanding to show its own readiness or unreadiness for transformation.
Breath. The understanding of the rhythm of life vibrated with a deep harmony. Li Yuan felt that breath was not just about in and out, but about exchange—giving and receiving, releasing and taking, becoming part of a larger cycle.
Sky. The understanding of limitless freedom vibrated with a longing to be understood more deeply. The sky was not just about a vast physical space, but about the soul's capacity to expand without limits.
Body. The understanding that currently maintained the shape of his consciousness body vibrated with a question about the relationship between consciousness and form. Is the body a prison for the soul, or is the body the way the soul expresses itself in reality?
Loss. The understanding born from pain vibrated with warm wisdom. Loss was not just about what was lost, but about the space created for something new.
Fear. The understanding that taught him that fear is a form of love vibrated with a paradoxical courage. Fear was not an enemy to be defeated, but a teacher that taught him about what was truly valuable.
Wrapping. The understanding that allowed him to conceal his resonance vibrated with a sense of responsibility. Wrapping was not about hiding the truth, but about protecting the world from a truth it might not be ready to accept.
Soul. The understanding that allowed him to save souls vibrated with a deep warmth. In the Sea of Souls in his Zhenjing, five million souls rested in peace, waiting for the right moment to... for what? Li Yuan felt that there was a greater purpose for the gathering of those souls, but it was not yet time to understand.
Chaos Qi. The understanding of irregular energy vibrated with a pattern that seemed random but actually had a hidden logic. Chaos was not the absence of order, but an order that was too complex to be understood at first glance.
Disorder. The broader understanding of irregularity vibrated with a deep acceptance. Disorder was the partner of order, two sides of the same coin called life.
Memories. The understanding that stored precious memories vibrated with a warmth that never faded. Memories were not just about the past, but about how the past shapes and enriches the present.
Anger. The understanding born from seeing injustice vibrated with a controlled fire. Anger was not about destruction, but about the motivation to protect and change.
Emotion. The understanding that taught him that feelings are the language of the soul vibrated with a full spectrum of colors. Emotion was neither a weakness nor a strength—emotion was the soul's way of communicating with itself and with the world.
Oldest Breath. The most fundamental understanding vibrated with a cosmic rhythm that never changed. The first vibration that created everything, which would continue to vibrate even after everything ended.
Li Yuan observed all his understandings in perfect harmony. Each was unique, each was valuable, each contributed to the symphony of consciousness that made up who he was.
But in that observation, he began to feel something new.
A pattern that connected all the understandings. An underlying principle that grounded all seventeen aspects of the Dao he had touched.
All were one. One was all.
Not in the sense that all things were the same. But in the sense that all things were aspects of one larger reality—a reality too vast to be understood from a single perspective.
Water, Silence, Existence, Doubt—all were windows to the same truth, seen from a different angle.
Li Yuan felt something shift in his consciousness. Not the transformation of a particular understanding, but an evolution in how he understood the relationship between the understandings.
Perhaps true cultivation was not about developing individual understandings in isolation. Perhaps true cultivation was about understanding how all the understandings worked together to create a complete symphony of consciousness.
At a depth of thirty thousand kilometers, surrounded by a pressure that could crush a mountain, in a silence so profound that even time moved slowly, Li Yuan began to enter a meditation that would change the way he understood the Daojing itself.
A meditation that might open the door to insights even more fundamental than the individual realms.
A meditation that would teach him about the unity underlying all the diversity in spiritual cultivation.
Li Yuan took one last breath before sinking completely into inner silence.
The journey to a deeper understanding began now.